The U.S. girls’s nationwide workforce was examined throughout its second group stage match of the 2024 Paris Olympics, however the workforce confirmed greater than sufficient composure to stroll away with a 4-1 win over Germany and a probable spot into the quarterfinals.
The speedy twin risk of Sophia Smith and Trinity Rodman was showcased at the beginning of the match as Rodman delivered a cross into the field and Smith was in a position to get onto the tip of it for a 1-0 USWNT lead. It was a dream begin and lead that vanished shortly as Giulia Gwinn’s low-driven strike from exterior of the field leveled the rating for Germany.
That second gave the younger USWNT its most troublesome check beneath new head coach Emma Hayes. Would the workforce crumble as Germany gained momentum, or would it not present dedication to retake the lead once more?
Fortunately for Hayes and USWNT followers, Mallory Swanson answered that query 4 minutes later by getting on the rebound of a Smith shot and scoring to make it 2-1 for the People.
The U.S. didn’t concede one other aim within the first half, nevertheless it was dealt a blow when defender Tierna Davidson suffered an damage critical sufficient to take her out of the match within the forty fourth minute.
As soon as once more, the USWNT flexed its muscle groups as Smith’s deflected shot within the forty fourth minute gave the U.S. and 3-1 lead heading into the halftime.
Within the second half, the U.S. was in a position to neutralize No. 4 ranked Germany, who solely registered six pictures on the right track, by having loads of the ball (62% possession to be actual) and creating extra alternatives. Lynn Williams completed the scoring for the U.S. within the 89th minute as she was teed up by Swanson and struck the web from shut vary.
The outcome nearly seals the deal for the U.S. to have a spot within the quarterfinals, barring a dramatic flip of occasions on Matchday 3, however Hayes would most probably be pleased with how her younger squad stayed decided in a match in opposition to a powerful opponent whereas going through adversity.
The USWNT wraps up group stage play at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 31 in opposition to Australia.
In Crew USA’s first recreation of the 2024 Paris Olympics, Jayson Tatum was not within the rotation. The Boston Celtics star performed zero minutes in america’ 110-84 win in opposition to Serbia on Sunday.
“I went with the mixtures I felt would make sense,” coach Steve Kerr instructed reporters, by way of the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, “and I talked to him, and he was extremely skilled.”
Kerr referred to as Tatum “top-of-the-line gamers on this planet.” Tatum made the All-NBA First Crew and led the Celtics to a championship this previous season, and he logged a median of 17.6 minutes within the Crew USA’s 5 exhibition video games main as much as the Olympics. The most important distinction between these video games and the Olympic opener, although, was that Kevin Durant did not play within the friendlies. Durant, who returned from a calf damage in opposition to Serbia, successfully took Tatum’s spot within the rotation.
“It is actually laborious in a 40-minute recreation to play greater than 10 guys,” Kerr mentioned. “With Kevin coming again, I simply went to the mixtures that I felt made probably the most sense. It appears loopy. I assumed I used to be loopy after I checked out every thing and decided these are the lineups I needed to get to.
“[Tatum will] make his mark. Our guys know the important thing to this complete factor is to place all of the NBA stuff within the rearview mirror and simply win six video games. Jayson is the final word professional and champion and he dealt with it properly, and he will be prepared for the following recreation.”
Kerr might have tinkered with the rotation as a way to hold Tatum in it, however elected not to take action. The choice to carry Durant off the bench signaled that he needed to maintain the beginning 5 — Stephen Curry, Jrue Vacation, Devin Booker, LeBron James and Joel Embiid — intact. Going smaller could possibly be an possibility going ahead, however would not have made a lot sense in opposition to Nikola Jokic’s group.
It’s a bit bizarre that Tatum wound up not enjoying in any respect, regardless of the context. It’s price noting, although, that Tyrese Haliburton, one other All-NBA participant, has not performed for the reason that first half of america’ tune-up recreation in opposition to South Sudan final week. For the final two-and-a-half video games, Derrick White has run level with the second unit and Haliburton has sat on the sideline. If Kerr’s teaching workers just isn’t going to play everyone in each recreation, then one or two nice gamers might be overlooked.
“[Tatum is] good,” White, his teammate on the Celtics and with Crew USA, mentioned. “He is in good spirits. He is clearly a hell of a participant and we have quite a lot of nice guys on the group, so he’ll be all proper.”
Requested if he was sick, as each Embiid and Anthony Davis needed to miss latest practices as a consequence of sickness, Tatum mentioned, “No, I am good,” per the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.
Forward of Crew USA’s upcoming video games in opposition to South Sudan (Wednesday, 3 p.m. ET) and Puerto Rico (subsequent Sunday, 11:15 a.m. ET), the broader query in regards to the rotation is how inflexible Kerr might be. If Durant is inserted to the beginning lineup, who’s taken out? What ripple results will which have on the bench? Kerr has not solely made hockey-style substitutions this summer time, however he has clearly tried to assemble a constant first unit and a second unit in order that the 2 respective teams might construct chemistry. The only option to hold some continuity on Sunday was to place Durant in Tatum’s place, however that does not imply the teaching workers would have landed on this explicit rotation in some other circumstance.
For the following three days, Kerr can experiment with completely different lineup mixtures in follow. Do not be shocked if the substitution sample seems to be meaningfully completely different in opposition to South Sudan, and do not be shocked if this finally ends up being Tatum’s solely DNP-CD.
Nearly every part went proper for the U.S. males’s basketball crew in its opening recreation of the Paris Olympics, a 110-84 romp over Serbia. Kevin Durant dropped 23 factors on simply 9 pictures in his return from a calf harm, LeBron James delivered a classic efficiency and 5 totally different gamers scored in double figures.
One of many gamers who did not, nonetheless, was Jayson Tatum. The truth is, Tatum did not play in any respect on Sunday — one in all simply two gamers head coach Steve Kerr opted to go away on the bench, together with level guard Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton’s absence is not too huge of a shock; he is been the eleventh or twelfth man all summer season. Tatum, nonetheless, registers as an enormous shock, because the MVP candidate and 2023-24 NBA champion had been a key a part of Kerr’s rotation throughout Staff USA’s tune-up video games over the previous few weeks.
So, what provides? Even given the embarrassment of riches at Kerr’s disposal, why would a participant of Tatum’s caliber not play in any respect? Let’s dig in to what could be happening.
Why did not Jayson Tatum play in U.S. recreation vs. Serbia?
If you wish to take Kerr at his phrase, this was merely a basketball determination, one spurred on by the return of Durant.
Steve Kerr says Jayson Tatum sat principally due to getting KD into the combination. However mentioned there will probably be alternatives.
Does that go the odor take a look at? It makes some sense. First, Durant’s return made the U.S. even deeper on the wing. Second, Kerr has tinkered with lineups all summer season, and has informed the media a number of occasions that he wasn’t afraid to combine and match based mostly on opponent and circumstance. In a recreation by which the U.S. wished to push the tempo, each to press its athleticism benefit over Serbia and to try to put on out star huge man Nikola Jokic, the choice to take a seat Tatum would try.
Tatum is a methodical participant; he prefers a half-court recreation, and he prefers to carry the ball and survey his choices. Given the problems that Kerr’s crew has had getting the ball transferring at occasions this summer season, you’ll be able to type of perceive why the coach would go for totally different gamers who could be extra prepared to push the tempo and more practical taking part in with out the ball — gamers like Tatum’s teammate, Derrick White, who won’t be the star Tatum is, however is a superb defender and spot-up shooter who likes to throw the outlet go and get out and run.
It is a lengthy match, with the deepest and most harmful area in Olympic historical past. Sooner or later, the U.S. goes to wish a participant with the type of scoring and defending chops that Tatum brings, and Kerr’s determination to maintain Tatum on the bench will all be a distant reminiscence. Till then, credit score to Tatum for being absolutely engaged on the sideline and never making himself the story.
When gymnast Jordan Chiles competes within the Paris Olympics, her mother and father, Gina and Timothy Chiles, can be there cheering her on.
“They’re on this journey with me and nonetheless making sacrifices,” Chiles, 23, mentioned earlier this 12 months about her mother and father. “This sport is hard on the athletes, however the mother and father undergo each emotion too—particularly my mother who can not watch me with out virtually passing out.”
She added of her mother, Gina, “My mother has been my largest supporter from the start, and she or he has helped me change into the individual I’m in the present day. She helped me to keep in mind that my dream was mine and mine alone. It was as much as me to offer the facility to individuals who would gasoline my journey or to vary instructions and stroll away alone phrases. She taught me that nobody had the facility to only take it away. She is my rock.”
In the meantime, her dad, Timothy, is “the individual I would like within the hardest moments as a result of he has a method of comforting me once I really feel overwhelmed,” Chiles mentioned. “There may be nothing just like the arms of my dad to make me really feel like every thing will one way or the other be okay.”
Here is every thing it is advisable to find out about Jordan Chiles’s mother and father Gina and Timothy—who named their daughter Jordan, after none aside from Michael Jordan:
Who’s Jordan Chiles’s mother, Gina?
Dream Large Little Chick
Gina is a senior pastor at In response to His Phrase Worship Heart, a church in Vancouver, Washington. She can be a youngsters’s e book writer, writing Dream Large Little Chick, impressed by Jordan’s gymnastics profession on the Olympics. Jordan mentioned of her mother: “Ever since I used to be little, she at all times informed me, ‘There’s just one Jordan, so be the most effective Jordan you might be.'”
In 2021, Gina pled responsible to wire fraud. In response to native KOIN 6 Information in Portland, “Court docket paperwork say she admitted stealing from her shoppers and mentioned she spent a whole bunch of 1000’s of {dollars} on private bills.” She was sentenced to at least one 12 months and someday in jail, starting her sentence in August 2021, and was launched 4 months early, in April 2022. Per KOIN 6, “Chiles certified for day without work her sentence for good habits which doubtless prompted her early launch.”
Gina could be very lively on social media (@gina.chiles), posting in assist of her youngsters—particularly Jordan’s Olympic journey.
Who’s Jordan Chiles’s dad, Timothy?
Timothy based In response to His Phrase church in 2007. In response to his official bio, “Apostle Timothy C. Chiles Jr. traveled the nation ministering alongside his father in numerous church buildings and tent revivals experiencing the miraculous energy of God touching the lives of many. He surrounded himself with music and music the place he basked within the glory of God’s anointing.” He’s additionally president of Higher Life Crusades, a global outreach ministry.
Along with Jordan, Timothy and Gina have 4 different youngsters: Jazmin, Jade, Tajmen, and Tyrus.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior Information Editor for City & Nation, the place she covers leisure, tradition, the royals, and a spread of different topics. Earlier than becoming a member of T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish tradition web site. Comply with her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France — Joel Embiid selected to play for the U.S. over France on the Paris Olympics — and the French did not let him neglect it.
French followers attending the U.S. males’s basketball staff’s Olympic opener towards Serbia on Sunday had been forceful with how they really feel concerning the Philadelphia 76ers star and Cameroon native.
He was met with boos each time he did something on the courtroom — be it throughout pregame introductions, coming off the bench, touching the ball — something.
Why?
It doubtless facilities on his choice to not play for France, which granted him naturalized citizenship standing in 2022 though he is by no means lived there.
There was some hope by French followers that Embiid would staff with fellow NBA stars Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert to play for the host nation within the Paris Video games.
He additionally had the choice of taking part in for Cameroon, nevertheless it was knocked out early in the course of the qualification course of. That left the U.S., the place he additionally obtained a U.S. passport in 2022.
Embiid has beforehand mentioned he wished to play for Crew USA as a result of his son was born in the US. However he has by no means particularly mentioned why he selected the U.S. over France.
Embiid scored 4 factors with a block and two rebounds in Crew USA’s 110-84 victory over Serbia.
Joel Embiid is the largest NBA star making an attempt to ship Group USA males’s basketball its fifth-straight gold medal on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Actually.
Listed as 7-feet and 280 kilos, Embiid’s presence alongside LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the remainder of Group USA makes an already imposing roster appear to be a humiliation of riches.
REQUIRED READING:Comply with USA TODAY’s full protection of the 2024 Paris Olympics
The Philadelphia 76ers middle averaged an NBA-best 34.7 factors per recreation through the 2023-24 season, only one 12 months faraway from being named the league’s most beneficial participant. He’ll staff with Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo of the Miami Warmth to type a trio of huge males in contrast to any on the earth.
However this will likely be Embiid’s first time taking part in a world competitors, and his path to those Olympics has been totally different from the remainder of his teammates. Embiid had choices, and his option to play for Group USA raised eyebrows stateside and overseas.
Right here’s what it’s good to find out about Embiid’s choice to symbolize the USA, and the way he wound up donning the pink, white and blue in Paris:
The place is Joel Embiid from?
Embiid was born in Yaounde, Cameroon and largely performed soccer and volleyball rising up there. He didn’t begin taking part in basketball till he was 15 years outdated. He moved to the USA a 12 months later after NBA participant and fellow Cameroon native Luc Mbah A Moute seen him at a basketball camp in Africa.
Embiid has performed within the states ever since then, rising as a five-star recruit at The Rock College in Gainesville, Florida, per his 247Sports Composite profile. He then performed one season at Kansas. Embiid was chosen by the 76ers with the No. 3 total choose within the 2014 NBA draft and has performed in Philadelphia throughout his whole skilled profession.
What nationality is Joel Embiid?
Born in Cameroon, Embiid additionally had the chance to play for France or his native nation within the Olympics. He gained citizenship to France in Could 2022 via a clause there that permits naturalization to a foreigner whose naturalization is “of remarkable curiosity.” Embiid then revealed in September 2022 that he had additionally grow to be a United States citizen, and cited his son because the motivation.
How is Joel Embiid taking part in for Group USA?
A 12 months later, when Embiid introduced he had dedicated to play for Group USA in Paris, his household’s connection to the USA was the figuring out issue.
“It was not simple,” Embiid wrote in a publish on X (previously Twitter) explaining his choice in October 2023. “I’m blessed to name Cameroon, France, and the USA house. “After speaking to my household, I knew it needed to be Group USA. I need to play with my brothers within the league. I need to play for my followers as a result of they’ve been unbelievable for the reason that day I got here right here. However most of all, I need to honor my son who was born within the US. I would like my boy to know I performed my first Olympics for him.”
MORE:Group USA males’s and girls’s basketball odds at 2024 Paris Olympics
Was Embiid’s choice to affix Group USA controversial?
It actually has been in France.
When Embiid was granted French citizenship, hypothesis instantly adopted that he was planning to symbolize France two years later when it hosted the Olympics. There was the potential to staff with Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert.
Former NBA participant Boris Diaw, who at the moment serves as the final supervisor of the French nationwide staff in males’s basketball, insisted to The Athletic that Embiid approached a number of instances through the 2021-22 NBA season about his curiosity in taking part in for France.
When France beat the USA 83-76 through the 2020 Olympics, snapping Group USA’s 25-game successful streak in Olympic competitors, Embiid even tweeted, “Allez les Bleus” in celebration.
“Joel got here to us and mentioned that he wished to play worldwide basketball, he mentioned he wished to win, and he mentioned he wished to play for France and he wished to win with France,” Diaw informed The Athletic. “So we listened to him.”
This led French officers to bypass the everyday routes to realize citizenship. Embiid didn’t have direct French heritage, nor had he lived in France for at the least two years. However he and his son have been granted a French passport due to what France may accomplish on the Olympics with him.
Embiid, nevertheless, by no means did play for France, and selecting to play for the USA was not met kindly by the French.
“Group USA, with him, who can beat you? Come on, no person,” French Basketball Federation president Jean-Pierre Siutat informed The Athletic. “That is a simple method for him to get an Olympic medal.”
Frederic Weis — the previous French nationwide participant who infamously acquired dunked on by Vince Carter through the 2000 Olympics — took it much more personally.
NBA FREE AGENCY:Joel Embiid on the Philadelphia 76ers offseason strikes, together with Paul George signing
“I hate him for the issues that he did. I feel he does not have any respect for France and likewise for all of the people who find themselves asking for a French passport and do not get it. And below the pretext that he’s an ideal athlete, he acquired it,” Weis mentioned in April, by way of Eurohoops.web. “I discover it scandalous, I discover it embarrassing. I do not care about his excuses, as a result of they’re his phrases, and his phrases imply nothing.
“I might take away from him the French nationality and I might ban him from getting into France,” Weis added. “You’ll not play within the Olympics. You’ll come to the airport with Group USA and we’ll say, ‘You do not have the fitting to enter the territory, go to your property. You might be Cameroonian, you might be American, you aren’t French, go away.'”
Through the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, Group USA teammate Tyrese Haliburton jokingly sounded an analogous chorus in a video posted on his Instagram account.
“Give your passport again,” Haliburton mentioned.
“I am American, man,” Embiid responded, waving a miniature American flag from the boat carrying the USA delegation of athletes alongside the Seine River through the parade of countries.
Embiid mentioned in July at Group USA coaching camp he isn’t apprehensive a couple of impolite reception when he arrives in Paris.
“I do not assume it must be something, but when it is greater than that, I embrace it,” Embiid informed The Athletic. “I do not assume you may get worse than taking part in in New York within the playoffs.”
Who else born exterior the USA has performed for Group USA?
Hakeem Olajuwon (born in Nigeria) and Patrick Ewing (born in Jamaica) are probably the most well-known earlier examples of naturalized residents to symbolize the USA in males’s basketball on the Olympics.
Joel Embiid profession highlights
Embiid didn’t play his first two years within the league because of a lingering foot damage. However within the eight seasons since then, he has amassed fairly the resume. Listed below are a few of his notable accomplishments:
2022-23 NBA MVP
7-time NBA All-Star
5-time all-NBA choice (first staff in 2023, second staff in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
U.S. gymnast Jade Carey pushed by means of some latest well being points to compete within the ladies’s gymnastics qualification spherical on Sunday, July 28.
The 24-year-old revealed to Olympics.com after a heartbreaking fall within the ground train — the occasion that earned her a gold medal in Tokyo — that she has been feeling sick and struggling to eat. She didn’t disclose a particular sickness.
“I simply haven’t been feeling nicely the previous few days and haven’t been in a position to eat or something,” she stated.
She continued, “I had, like, no power immediately and didn’t actually have a way of what was happening in my head. So, I simply form of needed folks to know that so, they know that there’s truly one thing mistaken.”
Throughout her ground routine, her final tumbling cross ended along with her on the bottom out of bounds.
Jade Carey falls on the finish of her ground routine through the gymnastics qualification spherical July 28.Tim Clayton – Corbis / Corbis through Getty Pictures
Retired Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman additionally spoke to Olympics.com and applauded Carey’s persistence.
“One of many hardest issues about sports activities is that irrespective of how a lot you put together you, generally the morning that you simply get up for a meet, you won’t be feeling nicely,” Raisman stated. “You may be jet lagged, chances are you’ll not have slept nicely, and fluke issues can occur. It’s simply so devastating to listen to that she hasn’t been feeling nicely. I hope that she is aware of that she did an unbelievable job.”
Information of Carey’s sickness comes after teammate Simone Biles additionally skilled ache through the opening spherical. Earlier than the ground train, Biles needed to briefly go away the mat to get her left ankle taped. Each Carey and Biles nonetheless delivered for Group USA, which ended the spherical within the lead with a complete rating of 172.296.
Learn on for what Carey has stated about her well being to this point within the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Is Jade Carey sick?
Carey opened up extra about how she has been feeling on X July 28.
In response to a tweet from journalist Scott Bregman about his Olympics.com article, she stated, “I haven’t been feeling the perfect the previous few days however I gave it all the things I had immediately.”
The gymnast added, “Thanks for all of the assist I’ve acquired. I’m so grateful,” with two pink coronary heart emoji.
After receiving a ten.633 rating on the ground, placing her out of the working to defend her gold medal, Carey rallied on the vault with a with a 14.433.
U.S. gymnast Jade Carey cited an sickness for her uncharacteristic efficiency throughout the first day of the ladies’s gymnastics competitors on Sunday after she fell backward and out of bounds over the past tumbling move of her flooring routine. It was one in all thrice she stepped out of bounds, which resulted in a deduction of practically one level.
Carey, who received an Olympic gold medal for her flooring routine in Tokyo, instructed Olympics.com that she has “not been feeling properly the previous few days” and has been unable to eat.
“I had, like, no vitality as we speak and did not actually have a way of what was occurring in my head,” the 24-year-old gymnast stated, including she didn’t need followers to assume nerves had impacted her routine. “I simply type of wished folks to know that, in order that they know that there is really one thing improper.”
Learn Extra: Day One of many Paris Olympics Sees a Twist in U.S. Males’s Gymnastics
Carey didn’t specify the reason for her ailment however shared an announcement on social media explaining that she gave her efficiency on Sunday “every little thing” she had. She additionally thanked followers for the assist she acquired in a submit on X Sunday morning.
Carey’s father, gymnastics coach Brian Carey, was reportedly feeling unwell on Thursday, inflicting him to overlook ladies’s podium coaching, per USA Gymnastics.
Workforce USA nonetheless superior to the all-around last, which is able to happen on Tuesday. Carey’s rating of 10.633 means she received’t have the possibility to defend her flooring title at this yr’s Olympics, however she nonetheless carried out properly on the vault, with a rating of 14.433, and can seemingly advance to the ultimate in that occasion.
Simone Biles, Sunisa Lee, and Jordan Chiles at the moment sit on the high three of the all-around leaderboard, however solely Biles and Lee will advance to the all-around last due to the Olympics’ two-athletes-per-country rule. Regardless of her calf harm, Biles has the very best rating up to now, and is predicted to proceed to take part within the Video games.
NOTE: Spoiler alert under. Girls’s gymnastics {qualifications} will air once more in primetime beginning at 6 p.m. on NBC 5
Simone Biles and Suni Lee will symbolize the USA within the particular person all-around closing on the 2024 Paris Olympics and can make historical past once they do.
When Biles, the 2016 Olympic all-around champion, and Lee, the 2020 Olympic all-around champion, take middle stage on Thursday, August 1, will probably be the primary time two Olympic all-around champions will compete towards one another in an Olympic all-around closing.
On Sunday, Biles and Lee completed in first and third, respectively. Biles completed with a 59.566, whereas Lee completed with 56.132.
Lee clinched her spot with a monster bar routine that scored 14.866 and beat out her teammate Jordan Chiles for Workforce USA’s second particular person all-around spot by simply .067.
Chiles, who completed fourth with a 56.065, won’t be able to compete within the all-around closing resulting from a rule that permits solely two athletes from every nation to compete within the particular person all-around finals.
Defending all-around gold medalist Suni Lee confirmed up and confirmed out, securing an opportunity to defend her title. The 3x Olympic medalist may also compete within the uneven bars and stability beam finals alongside teammate Simone Biles.
Biles scored a report excessive for girls’s gymnastics, regardless of battling a calf concern that made for a dramatic debut.
Throughout Biles’ 30-second warmup earlier than ground, she was seen telling her coach, “uh oh, not good,” after prepping her signature ability, “the Biles,” for her ground routine.
Biles’ coach, Cecile Landi, mentioned the gymnast “felt ‘a little bit ache in her calf'” whereas warming up on the ground. Landi mentioned there have been no present plans for Biles to withdraw from any competitions or change her routines and mentioned she wasn’t involved about her efficiency going ahead.
The ache did not deter Biles, extensively thought-about the best gymnast of all time.
The U.S. ladies’s gymnastics workforce clinched their spot within the workforce closing after ending in first place after the primary two subdivisions with a 172.296.
Here is how the highest eight groups rank heading into finals:
PLACE
TEAM
SCORE
1
USA
172.296
2
Italy
166.861
3
China
166.628
4
Brazil
166.499
5
Japan
162.196
6
Canada
161.563
7
Nice Britain
160.830
8
Romania
159.497
Workforce USA will compete for the prospect to medal within the workforce closing on Tuesday, July 30, at 11:15 a.m. CT on Peacock and can re-air in primetime at 7 p.m. CT. Particular person All-Round will happen on Thursday, August 1, at 11:15 a.m. CT on Peacock and can re-air in primetime at 7 p.m. CT.
Whereas Simone Biles understandably takes up quite a lot of air within the dialog of USA Gymnastics, there’s one other athlete on the staff who makes it laborious to overshadow her: Auburn gymnast Sunisa “Suni” Lee.
Lee emerged as a star within the sport throughout the 2020 Tokyo Video games (which befell in 2021), from which Biles was pressured to withdraw with a case of the twisties. Lee, the primary ever Hmong-American to compete for the USA within the Olympics, is already among the many most embellished Individuals in USA gymnastics historical past at age 21. She has six World Championships and Olympic medals (three in every), and she or he was the 2022 NCAA steadiness beam champion.
If Lee medals within the 2024 Paris Olympics, she would transfer right into a tie with Shawn Johnson and Chellsie Memmel for eighth in medal rely in main occasions amongst US. gymnasts. Lee’s teammate, Shilese Jones, has a chance to do the identical, as she additionally enters with six medals between gymnastics’ main occasions.
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS:Observe USA TODAY’s full protection right here
How did Lee find yourself in such a vaunted place on Crew USA? Her efficiency on the 2020 Video games in Tokyo thrust her into the general public eye, and from there Lee has accomplished nothing to disabuse viewers of the notion she is elite.
Suni Lee 2020 Tokyo Olympics medal rely
Lee took three medals within the 2020 Tokyo Video games, together with a gold medal within the particular person all-around class.
Lee was additionally acknowledged as a part of a USA squad that took silver amongst groups, and received bronze on the uneven bars. The one occasion Lee didn’t medal in that she participated in was the steadiness beam, for which she got here in fifth.
Lee joined Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade and the Russian Olympic Committee’s Angelina Melnikova as the one ladies’s gymnasts to medal in a number of particular person occasions at Tokyo 2020. Andrade and Lee have been the one ones to win particular person gold whereas incomes that achievement.
REQUIRED READING:How Suni Lee’s well being journey modified her gymnastics mindset: ‘That is what I need’
Suni Lee 2020 Olympics scores
Lee competed in 4 occasions on the 2020 Olympics: the staff, all-around, uneven bars, and steadiness beam.
Steadiness beam scores
Lee scored a 6.4 and seven.466 (13.866) for her steadiness beam routines, placing her in fifth place. Her teammate Biles took bronze on the beam, whereas China took gold and silver through Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing, respectively.
Uneven bars scores
Within the uneven bars, Lee got here in third to earn bronze with scores of 6.2 and eight.3 (14.500). She completed behind Belgium’s Nina Derwael (15.200) and the Russian Olympic Committee’s Anastasia Ilyankova (14.833).
Particular person all-around scores
The all-around is the place Lee really shined, edging out Brazil’s Andrade with a rating of 57.433. Andrade completed with a rating of 57.298 for silver.
Throughout the all-around, Lee scored 14.600 on the vault, 15.300 on the uneven bars, 13.833 on the steadiness beam, and 13.700 on the ground train.
Crew all-around scores
Lastly, there was the staff all-around, wherein the USA completed second behind the Russian Olympic Committee.
Lee scored 15.400 on the uneven bars (tied with Derwael for greatest amongst all rivals), 14.133 on the steadiness beam (second-best amongst all rivals behind the ROC’s Viktoria Listunova), and 13.666 on ground workouts.
Lee’s depth and breadth of expertise helped her to set herself aside from the sector in 2021. Now, three years later, she is hoping to do the identical as a extra established a part of Crew USA.
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